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THE 



FATHER OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 



BY 



George W. Baird 

RSAR ADMIRAL TTNITBD STATES NAVY (RETIRED) 



Past Grand Master of Freemasons 

Past President Sons of the American Revolution 

Past Commander of the I,oyal L,egion (D. C. Society) 



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FATHER OF THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

(By Rear Admiral G. W. Baird, U.S.N., Past Grand Master 
OF Freemasons, District of Columbia.) 



The Original, Colonial, Navy which existed during the time of 
the Colonies, was dismantled, crews discharged and officers mus- 
tered out, at the termination of the Revolutionary war, for want 
of money to continue it. Only one officer (John Paul Jones) was 
continued in the Government employ, as American Commissioner 
at L'Oriente, France, to settle the very complicated tangle of 
ownership, prize claims, etc., as some of the ships were letter-of- 
marque, some privateers and some men of war, but nearly all had 
mixed American and French crews. These vessels had won about 
80 per cent of their battles, and there were as many as 74,000 
men in them. Washington's Army never numbered more than 
20,000 at one time. In the original Colonial Navy there were 42 
Captains, of whom the senior was Eseck Hopkins of Rhode Island, 
who was appointed Commander in Chief, with rank equal to that 
of General Washington. He was the brother of Stephen Hopkins, 
a signer of the Declaration, of Independence, and native born. 
His admirers speak of him as Father of the American Navy, and 
though there is a distinction between the Colonial Navy and 
the U. S. Navy they were equally American. Columbus is credited 
with the Discovery of America, though he never saw the continent, 
but did discover the Bahamas and Antilles, and thus blazed the 
way for the following discoverers. But, in the Naval Service, we 
have held that Congress was the Father of the Navy, and not 
any individual. The first Regulations for the Navy were pre- 
pared by John Paul Jones, when a first lieutenant. His youth, 
evidently, prevented his appointment as Captain at once. But 
his success as a fighter and his general superiority, mentally, diplo- 
matically, personally, won his promotion to Captain very soon. 
And his admirers call him the Father of the American Navy. It 
has been generally conceded that the victories of John Paul Jones, 



right at the ports of the enemy, and against such odds, have much 
to do with the early recognition of the RepubHc. We cannot dis- 
cover that any British Historian, nor foreign reports, have noticed 
any of our Naval Commanders except John Paul Jones and Abra- 
ham Whipple. The prowess of the British Navy, at that time, was 
considered to be invincible: no war vessel dared fight a British 
ship on anything like equal terms. So it was a surprise that Captain 
Jones should bring a fight right up to their ports, in inferior vessels, 
and against regularly built Men of War, and twice was victor. 

Ezekiel Hopkins, a well bred man as well as a skillful seaman, 
was the first of the Colonial Captains to put to sea. From the 
records of the Navy Department it is shown that the Hornet and 
the Wasp sailed from Baltimore, November, 1775, to join the 
fleet of Captain Hopkins in the Delaware. This squadron sailed 
from the Delaware, February 17th, 1775 (see Cooper and other 
Naval Historians and biographers of Barry, Frost, Peterson and 
the Portfolio for July, 1813. In the edition of 1826 Cooper says 
the Lexington was the first to get to sea but he corrects this state- 
ment in all later editions of his Naval Histories). The first armed 
vessels captured by the Colonial Navy were the Hawk, 6 guns, 
and the Bomh Brig, Bolton of 8 guns, captured by Hopkins' Squad- 
ron, April 4 and 6, 1776. The Edward, 6 guns, was taken by 
Captain Barry on the 7th of April, 1776 (Navy Department 
Records). 

The allegations on Page 8 of Martin Griffin's " Story of Barry" 
is not confirmed by the Navy Department Records. The official 
record says that '' Richard Dale, lieutenant on a vessel of the Vir- 
ginia Navy, captured by a Tender of the Liverpool, and put in a 
prison ship at Norfolk, then in possession of the British, persuaded 
by a former schoolmate, named Goodrich, took service in a Tender 
cruising in the Rappahannock in May, 1776. He was severely 
wounded in an engagement with pilot boats and while recovering 
decided to give up the British Service. He sailed with Goodrich 
for Bermuda. When returning Goodrich's vessel was captured by 
Captain Barry. Twenty-five of the officers and crew entered the 
service of the Lexington. Dale was appointed a Midshipman and 
remained on the ship until captured of¥ the coast of France in 1777. 
He was imprisoned in England, escaped, reached L'Oriente, was 







EsFXK Hopkins, Commaxder-ix-Chikf of the Coxtixextal Navy 

DURING THE AMERICAN ReVOLUTIOX FROM DECEMBER 22nI), 1775, TO JANUARY 

2nd, 1778. Born April 25th, 1718, died February 25th, 1802. 



appointed, by Captain John Paul Jones, first lieutenant of the 
Bon Homme Richard (see biographies of Dale, Frost and Petersen, 
and the Portfolio, June, 1814. Also biographies of Captain John 
Paul Jones). 

It is certain that Captain Eseck Hopkins was the first Captain 
appointed in the Navy, as well as the first commander-in-chief. 
Of his personal worth and gentility there is no question: that he 
made the first captures, at sea, there can be no further question. 
But let us not forget, embarrassing as it is, that the jealousies at 
that time, between the Colonies, were bitter and acrimonious. 

" Wad some pou'r the giftie gie us 
To see ourseln as ither see us." 

Here is what was debated in the French Parliament, just after 
our war : 

" Not only (said Mr. Joseph De Maestro) do I not believe in the stability 
of the American Government, but the peculiar establishments of English- 
Americans inspire me with no confidence. Their Cities, for example, 
animated by jeealousy, hardly respectable, have not been able to agree on 
a place for the sessions of Congress : neither will cede the honor to the 
other. Consequently they have decided to build a new city which will be 
the seat of Government. They have chosen a place of advantage on the 
banks of the grand river : One stops ! as the City is to be called Washington ! 
The positions of the public buildings are marked on the map: they have 
put their hands to the work, and the plan of the queen-city is circulated in 
all Europe. Nevertheless there is too much deliberation, too much humanity 
in this affair, and one may bet a thousand to one that the city will never 
be built, or that it will never be called Washington or that Congress will 
not reside there." 

Our own records of the jealousies of that period have not been 
exploited, and silence has misled us. New England and the sea- 
board as far south as Virginia, supplied most of the 74,000 seamen 
of the Revolutionary period, while the counties inland and to the 
southward, supplied the soldiers for Washington's Army. But 
the school histories of today record comparatively little on the side 
of the sailor. We are satisfied that the inter-colonial jealousies in 
Congress had much to do with the Naval ending of Eseck Hopkins. 
He was summoned before the Continental Marine Committee, but 
did not appear as soon as they expected, and they suspended him. 

From Paullin's History of the Navy, p. 133, we quote, viz: 

" During the incumbency of the Marine Committee, a number of interesting 
and important Naval trials were held. Captain Thomas Thompson in 1778, 



and Captain Dudley Saltonstall in 1779, were broken by Courts martial. 
Other Captains who lost their vessels were tried but escaped so severe a 
punishment. The cases growing out of Captain Hopkin's expedition to New 
Providence, his engagement with the Glasgow, and the immediately succeed- 
ing events of his fleet in the spring of 1776 deserve more extended notice. 
During the sumer of 1776, the Marine Committee ordered Commodore Hop- 
kins and Captains Saltonstall, and Abraham Whipple to leave the fleet, which 
was then stationed in Rhode Island, and to come to Philedelphia for trial. 
After calling before it the inferior officers of the Alfred and Columbus 
and hearing their complaints against the two Captains, the committee reported 
to Congress on July 11, that the charges against Saltonstall were not well 
founded and that the charge against Whipple " amounts to nothing more than 
a rough, indelicate mode of behavior to his Marine Officers." 

And on p. 109 we find: 

"Journals of Continental Congress, December 30, 1777. The occasion of 
this grant of power by Congress was a letter complaining of ' disrespect and 
illtreatment' which a member of the Naval Board of the Middle Department 
had received at the hands of John Barry, commander of the Frigate 
Effingham." 



Hopkins accepted service in the Army then, and remained to 
the end of the War. There was no court of appeals at that time, 
nor even a revising power. It has been beHeved by many that jeal- 
ousy, more than anything else, moved that committee. But the 
people of Rhode Island erected a very beautiful statue of the 
memory of Captain Hopkins but, modestly, refrained from labeling 
it Father of the Navy. After peace was declared, and, from 
that time until the constitution was framed, conditions were very 
bad. Jealousies multiplied. They seemed to agree on one thing, 
that some rule was better than no rule, and it was even suggested 
that a young Prince be invited from the Mother Country, The 
Army and the Navy were disbanded. The officers and crews sought 
a livelihood where there was an opening. John Paul Jones re- 
mained at L'Oriente, without salary, but, for a brief period served 
the Russian Government and received a salary, but resumed his 
duty at L'Oriente. It is worthy of note that while Captain Jones 
died penniless, and was buried by charity, the Government owed 
him $60,000, which was subsequently paid his heirs. Captain Abe 
Whipple had joined the Ohio Company, and he ended his days in 
Ohio. 

We had agreed with the French, to protect their interests in the 
West Indies, in consideration for what they had done for us in 



the Revolutionary War, but, for want of money we failed. So 
the Enterprising French, with a consciousness of equity and justice, 
fell upon our commerce, at sea, very much like Raphael Semmes 
did during the Civil War, and proceeded to pay themselves from 
the cargoes. This continued until the destruction of our commerce 
(our largest asset) seemed imperilled. Finally the President sent 
three Commissioners to Paris, to beg the French Government to 
desist, but they were implacable. Finally our commissioner (Mr. 
Pinkney of S. C.) rose in his wrath and said " Millions for defense, 
but not one cent for tribute." 

Our Merchant Ships were then armed, and put up a successful 
fight. The Old Constitution was sent to sea, under Captain Trux- 
ton, and her fight with the French frigate Vengeance, ended that 
war. The French spoliation claims, which followed, and we have 
paid, amounted to more than $15,000,000, for what the French did 
for us in the Revolution. A year later, 1794, the Navy of the 
United States was determined on. 

The old Captains were scattered : some had more lucrative em- 
ployment, some were dead ; some were unfit for service. In June, 
1794, six captains were appointed, viz: John Barry, Samuel 
Nicholson, Silas Talbot, Joshua Barney, Richard Dale and Thomas 
Truxton. It has been claimed that they were commissioned in 
the order of merit. The name of John Paul Jones is not in the 
list, and for the good reason that John Paul Jones had been dead two 
years. Let us consider some of the things in which Captain Jones 
was first. He was the first to aid the Continental Congress in 
Creating the Navy, and he was the first officer to receive a com- 
mission, the first in command of a war vessel, the first to raise the 
American Flag on board a war vessel (The Alfred), with those 
who were the first with the flag, at sea, and in at the first British 
War Vessel striking her colors, to an American vessel, the first 
and only officer named in Act of Congress creating the new flag — 
Stars and Stripes — first to run up the Stars and Stripes on board 
a war vessel (The Ranger). First to carry the flag across the sea. 
First to propose for and to receive a salute to the Stars and Stripes 
from a foreign Nation (France) and, therein the first to receive 
recognition for the New Nation, the United States. The first 
to make a British War Vessel strike her colors (the Drake). The 



first and only American Naval Officer to receive a vote of thanks 
from the Continental Congress and from that Congress the com- 
mand of its greatest ship of war, the America. He never lost a 
battle nor did he lose a ship. 

John Paul Jones. 

Of whom the Nation's Board of Admiralty said, and the Conti- 
nental Congress printed in 1781 : 

" He hath made the flag of the United States respected among the flags 
of other Nations." 

His work of untangHng the prize cases at L'Oriente required 
judicial and diplomatic tact, and an intimate knowledge of the 
French language. Captain Jones never served on board a Letter- 
of -Marque nor a Privateer, but only in commissioned men-of-war. 
He was a creditable officer, at home in the best society and a wel- 
come guest at the French Court. A,t an Imperial Reception the 
wife of our Minister remarked on the fine dressing and perfect 
manners of Captain Jones. His ideals were high; his example 
good. His advice to the Marine Committee in 1776, and which 
appears on his monument in Washington, is still held up to the 
Midshipmen : 

" It is by no means enough that an ofiicer of the Navy should be a capable- 
mariner. He should be that, of course, and also a great deal more. He 
should be, as well, a gentleman of liberal education, refined manner, punctil- 
ious courtesy and the nicest sense of personal honor. He should not only 
be able to express himself clearly and with force, in his own language, with 
tongue and pen, but should be versed in French and Spanish. 

" He should be the soul of tact, patience, justice, firmness and charity. No 
meritorious act of a subordinate should escape his attention nor be left to 
pass without its reward ; if even the reward be only a word of approval. 
Conversely he should not be blind to a single fault of a subordinate though, 
at the same time, he should be quick and unfailing to distinguish error from 
malice, thoughtlessness from incompetency and well meant shortcoming from 
heedless or stupid blunder. As he should be universal and impartial in his 
reward and approval of merit so should he be judicial and unbending in his 
punishment or reproof of misconduct." 

John Paul Jones was a member of Neuf Socrs Lodge of Free- 
masons, the Paris Lodge of which Benjamin Franklin, Houdon, 
Helvetius, Heli DuMont, Arouet de Voltaire and other great men 
of that day were members, and they were his associates. He was 




Bronze Statue of LaFayette ix LaFavette Square in 
Washington, D. C. 



but 45 years of age when he died. His death was caused by 
nephritis and pulmonary trouble. He was buried in the protestant 
cemetery, at Paris, and, after 125 years, exhumed at the personal 
expense of our Ambassador, Gen. Horace Porter, who was, also, 
the President-General of the Society of the Sons of the American 
Revolution, 

After complete identification the body was brought to the 
United States in a battleship commanded by Captain C. D. Sigsbee. 

Gen. Porter and President Roosevelt were earnest members of 
the S. A. R. and it was the President's wish that the body of 
Jones be placed in the crypt of the Chapel, at the Naval Academy, 
much as Napoleon was interred in the crypt of the Hotel des 
Invalides at Paris. The obsequies were held in Bancroft Hall, at 
the Academy, on the 24th of April, 1906. The President, Secretary 
of the Navy, Ambassador Porter, the French Ambassador, Gov- 
ernor of Maryland et al, were the speakers that day. Congress 
appropriated $75,000 to finish the Chapel and prepare the crypt 
and sarcophagus, and, at the President's request, a Bill was intro- 
duced in Congress to appropriate $35,000 to reimburse Gen. Porter 
for his expenditures in recovering the body, but Gen. Porter re- 
fused to take it and the Bill was dropped. Porter asked that the 
$35,000 be added to the appropriation for the crypt, to make it 
handsomer. At the request of the President, Senator Lodge in- 
troduced a Bill asking $50,000 to erect, in Washington, a Statue 
of John Paul Jones. There are many " hero" monuments now in 
Washington, which look as if we were a war-like people, while 
we believe we are the most peaceable. The most beautiful group 
statue is that of La Fayette, in La Fayette Square. 

It was authorized by Congress in 1885, built in Paris, and un- 
veiled without ceremony in 1891. Archbishop John Ireland, struck 
by the beauty of the statue, and memorializing the service of a 
foreigner felt a twinge of jealousy, natural and pardonable jealousy. 

* " I charge you, sons of Saint Patrick to see to it that in Washington City- 
near the monuments of LaFayette and Rochambeau, there be erected a 
Monument to some Irish Soldier to commemorate the part Ireland took in 
the Revolutionary War." 



*Vide The National Hibernian of July, 1902. The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick 
were, originally, and now nominally a non-sectarian society. Its original purpose was 
to assist Irish immigration. Its origin dates to March 17th, 1771. 



He made an address to the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, in Ne\v . 
York, at their banquet to the " French Delegates" in which he said '-'i^Lf'ooj. 

There is no evidence that the Friendly Sons take any obligation. 
The Hibernian Society which existed in the early part of the last 
century, was also a benevolent society, and belonged in the United 
States, and must not be confused with the Ancient Order of Hi- 
bernia, which is international, sectarian and political. 

Bishop Ireland " charged" the Friendly Sons to find " some Irish 
soldier, to commemorate, which they were evidently unable to do. 

At the 1902 Meet of the Ancient Order of Hibernia, Mr. Don- 
levy was chairman and said " The roll of honor in the war of the 
Revolution shows such names as General Moylan ; General Sullivan 
who led the retreat succesfully across Long Island and in whose 
honor today the National Congress is contemplating a memorial 
in New Hampshire. We are proud and glad to have you men and 
women of the East in this capital city of our commonwealth in the 
queen city of the plains; proud and glad because it shows to all 
the people of the State the character of the citizenship that makes 
up the A. O. H." 

General Stephen Moylan was the First President of the Friendly 
Sons of St. Patrick. In the war of the Revolution he served a 
short time as a commissary, and then as colonel on the staff of the 
Pennsylvania Cavalry and spent the winter at Valley Forge. He 
seems to have been a successful business man, but had not much 
military record. Gen. John Sullivan was born in New Hampshire 
and was the first Grand Master of Masons in that State ; a Congre- 
gationalist; buried in the Congregational Cemetery near Ports- 
mouth. It does not appear why neither of these SOLDIERS 
were chosen, but it does appear, in the proceedings of that "Meet," 
that Captain Barry was favored. 

Mr. Martin Griffin, editor for the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, 
then wrote " The Story of Commodore John Barry" which was 
published in Philadelphia in 1908. He makes Captain Barry a 
Commodore, though that rank was not created until 1862, 59 years 
after the death of Captain Barry. Mr. Griffin bases his claim 
of Barry's being Father of the American Navy on his first com- 
mission when the Navy was rehabilitated in 1794, and goes so 
far as to call him father and founder, but, we contend, the original 




RocHAMBKAU, A Bkuxzk Statlk IX LaFavette SyuARE, Washington. 



Colonial Navy was as much American as the present Navy. In 
the Colonial Navy Captain Hopkins held the rank of Commander- 
in-Chief, which Mr. Griffin claims for Captain Barry, viz : " page 
71." So the County Wexford Irish Catholic Boy had become the 
commander-in-chief of the new Navy of the new constitutional 
United States appointed by Washington, " the Father of his Coun- 
try," Barry had become " Father of the American Navy." 

At the Denver Meet one of the speakers said " we are in hearty 
accord with the sentiment of St. Paul's great Prelate, Archbishop 
Ireland, at the banquet lately given by the Friendly Sons of St. 
Patrick to the French Delegates when he said, ' I charge you, Sons 
of St. Patrick, to see to it that in Washington near the monuments 
of La Fayette and Rochambeau there be erected some Irish Soldier 
to commemorate the part Ireland took in the Revolutionary War.* 
We name, as an Irish Soldier of the Revolutionary War worthy of 
the honor Captain Jack Barry, the father of the American Navy, 
and pledge our support to the movement * * *" Barry was 
not a soldier. It is apparent they had exhausted their " roll of 
honor" without finding a soldier, the peer of La Fayette or of 
Rochambeau. 

Mr. Griffin seems to have been the first and only Historian of 
Captain Barry, though biographers had recorded him, but by no 
means in such glowing adjectives. 

A Bill asking Congress for $50,000 for a monument to com- 
memorate Captain Barry, was introduced by Mr. Driscol,, on De- 
cember 4, 1'905, and is numbered H. R. 353. It asks for the 
erection in the City of Washington, District of Columbia, a monu- 
ment to the memory of Commodore John Barry on which shall 
be inscribed 

Erected to the memory of 

JOHN BARRY 

Father of the American Navy. 

Had the Bill been passed in this shape it would, clearly, have been 
a declaration of Congress that " Commodore" Barry was the father 
of the Navy. But the Act, which passed on February 2, 1906, 
appropriating the money, deleted the words Father of the American 



Navy, which was a decision. The report on this Bill (Public No. 
206) and the report (Public No. 208) on the Paul Jones Bill were 
made the same day, and the two Bills passed the same day. 

Another Richmond in thK Field. 

The following (A. P.) dispatch appeared in the Washington Post 
of December 25, 1907 : 

" New England Backs |50,000, of Wiley of Alabama. 

Boston, Massachusetts, December 24. Members of the Ancient Order 
of Hibernians in Massachusetts are earnestly working -for the passage of a 
Bill introduced by Congressman Wiley of Alabama appropriating $50,000 
for a monument to Jeremiah O'Brien, an Irish-American Revolutionary War 
hero who, captured, in the first sea fight of the Revolution, the British 
schooner Margarette," 

But it soon become known that Jeremiah O'Brien was not Irish at 
all, but born in Machias, Maine, and a charter member of Warren 
Lodge of Freemasons. He was a member of the Congregational 
church. The Bill was not pushed ; it was not reported. 

" They folded their tents like the Arabs, and silently stole away." 
The Contract for the Monument of John Paul Jones was given to 
the lowest bidder, Mr. Niehause, a German. The contract for the 
Barry Statue was given to Mr. Andrew O'Connor, an Irish Sculp- 
tor in Paris. 

Mr. Niehause completed his work without delay or hindrance, 
showing Captain Jones in his uniform, sword in hand, with a hand- 
some marble pylon for a background, which affords a good con- 
trast. It was pronounced good. The only criticism was from a 
Scot who said " The Artist might have put a Scotch thistle or a 
heather on a corner." 

A stranger visited me on the evening of January 22, 1908, and I 
entered in my diary every word I could remember. " He said 
his name was Frizzel, and a former proofreader in the Gov- 
ernment Printing Office, and a member of the Ancient Order 
of Hibernians. That he had been to see Mr. A. Howard Clarke, 
Secretary-General of the S. A. R., and Commander Moore, presi- 
dent of the local society S. A. R., for the purpose of securing our 
co-operation in having the Statue of John Paul Jones placed on 
one side of the heroic sized Statue of Columbus, and John Barry 

lO 




Bronze Statue oe Captain John Barry, in Franklin Square, 
Washington, D. C. 



placed on the other side. [The Columbus statue is of great size, 
and there is a niche on each side where the two smaller ones would 
fit.] I was surprised that Dr. Clark or Commander Moore should 
refer Mr. Frizzel* to me, as I held no office in the Society of the 
S. A. R. at the time and had never been active in it. I concluded 
that they were getting rid of Mr. Frizzel, and avoiding a disagree- 
able matter. I told Mr. Frizzell I had no knowledge nor authority 
in the matter. When he asked me who introduced the Bill in 
Congress to appropriate $50,000 for the statue of John Paul Jones 
(which I did not know at the time) I told him he could find out 
by inquiry at the Document Room. He said he had inquired there, 
and no copy of the Bill could be found. He said that the Bill for 
the Jones statue was introduced some months before that for the 
Barry statue, but they were reported and passed the same day. He 
volunteered the information that when the Ancient Order of Hi- 
bernians held their meeting in Denver the principal speaker was 
Archbishop Ireland who advised that it was up to them to discover 
some Irishman who was in the Navy during the Revolutionary 
war and to bring him forward ; to ask Congress to appropriate a 
like sum for a statue for him, and that is how the appropriation for 
the Barry statue came about. He expressed the belief that the sum 
of $50,000 would not be enough for the statue and pedestal, and 
that Burke Cochran said that he could easily raise $50,000 in New 
York for a proper pedestal for the statue of John Barry. He said 
that in event of their failure to have the two statues (Jones and 
Barry) placed beside that of Columbus, he would like to have 
them placed together, as proper Naval Heroes of the Revolutionary 
War." 

I could not sanction, by silence, any move of the Sons of the 
American Revolution, to declare Captain Barry was the peer of 
John Paul Jones, and, in the event of the S. A. R. opposing it I 
would have to stand the fire. Nor could I deceive (the soi disanf) 
Mr. Frizzell by leading him to think I was apathetic or favorable. 
I knew of the niche on each side of the Columbus Statue, and, for 
the first time understood their purpose. So I assured Mr. Frizzell 



* I discovered afterwards that this man's name is not Frizzell. Mr. Frizzell is older 
and is very different. The alleged Frizzell looks very much like a clerk I have often 
seen in the War Department, who attracted my attention by being a fast walker. 

II 



that as both Captain Jones and Captain Barry were patriots while 
Columbus was an adventurer, a kidnapper, slave driver, and had 
even been called a pirate, I did not think that either Captain Jones or 
Captain Barry should be placed near him. As to placing the 
statues of Captain Jones and Captain Barry together anywhere, T 
was equally opposed, as each was big enough to merit a separate 
site. I said I favored a memorial for each and every Captain in the 
Colonial Navy and for every signer of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, and added that there are, now, three of the Signers 
buried in a Philadelphia Church Yard, in unmarked graves. 

Two years later I was elected President of the District of Colum- 
bia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and did what 
I could to prevent the placing of the Statues of Captain Jones and 
Captain Barry together. I visited the Secretary of War (who was 
one of the Commission), and stated my objection to placing the 
statues together, and he interrupted me by asking, " Who in hell 
was John Barry anyhow ? " The columns of the National Hi- 
bernian do not show that Bishop Ireland was at the Denever 
Meet of 1902 (as the alleged Mr. Frizzell had claimed) but it 
does show that the Bishop made the admonition to a non-sec- 
tarian Society (the Friendly Sons) in New York, during their 
entertaining of the French Delegates who had come with the La 
Fayette monument. His admonition was for them to discover 
some Irish SOLDIER who was the peer of La Fayette or of 
Rochambeau, which gave me the impression that the alleged Mr. 
Frizzell had not been well posted. 

The Statue of John Paul Jones was placed at the foot of 
Seventeenth Street, at the entrance to Potomac Park, in a fashion- 
able driveway. It was dedicated on the 17th of April, 1912. The 
stops were broken by Admiral Dewey, the senior officer of the 
Navy. The principal address was made by Gen. Horace Porter, 
a General Officer in the Civil War; our Ambassador to France, 
at whose personal expense the body of John Paul Jones was dis- 
covered and completely identified, who was graduated with honor 
at West Point and who was a Diplomat of international reputation. 
His address was historic, patriotic and classic, but too long for 
reproduction here. President Roosevelt had inspired the appro- 
priation for the memorial, and his successor, President Taf t, said : 



12 



" Ladies and Gentlemen, this monument preserves the memory of a Scotch 
Boy who transferred his allegiance from Scotland to the United States, 
mastered the science of Naval Strategy and furnished to our country the 
inspiration that has been felt for 130 years in the Navy, which is the pride 
of the Nation. He came to this country at the age of 12 as an apprenticed 
seaman. At the age of 19 he became the first mate, and at the age of 21, 
the master of a ship. In 1775, at the age of 28, he became a first lieutenant 
in the Navy of the United States. His career was no accident nor the 
result of fortuous circumstances. From a boy of 12 he gave his time to 
the study of his profession, and he made himself a sailor, a soldier, a 
commander, and a Diplomat. He mastered three languages, and after he had 
reached manhood made himself to know the ways of the men of the world, so 
that when he appeared at the Courts of Europe he honored the Country he 
represented. 

" It is fortunate for the Navy of the United States that it has such a hero 
to furnish the spirit to those who now make up its membership. The battle 
in which he had to take the deck of his antagonist to win victory, as his 
own ship went down, will always stand out in the History of Naval warfare 
as the greatest example of victory won by the individual bravery and 
indomitable courage of a commander that has ever been known to the 
world. And now the Navy of this Country has become so important a 
part of the Government, so essential to the maintainance of this country of 
its position before the world, it is fit that here, 133 years after the battle, a 
monument should be erected to its victor, dignified and beautiful as this 
one is, in the capital of the country that bears the name of the President 
who gave to this Hero the title of admiral. 

"I cannot say what I have to say without rendering a just tribute to the 
Soldier, Statesman and Diplomat, who, by appreciating the place in American 
History that John Paul Jones ought to occupy, devoted his time, his energy 
and his treasure to bring the bones of this great Naval Hero to rest at 
Annapolis, and to inspiring the movement that erected the memorial of 
today." 

The model of the statue for Captain Barry, which was made 
by Mr. O'Connor, was placed in the attic of the State, War and 
Navy Building for observation and consideration. It showed 
Captain Barry in his uniform, sword in hand, standing on a high 
pedestal, and, I thought it beautiful. It was inclosed in what might 
be called a semicircular frieze on the panels of which was a series 
of bas relief figures, immigrants, half nude, showing the miseries 
of suffering Ireland from the time of Klontarf to the potato famine 
of 1848. Mr. Driscol, the member of Congress who had intro- 
duced the Bill asking the appropriation, happened to be there, and 
expressed disappointment. He thought the has reliefs entirely 
superfluous, which surprised me, as I thought they filled the pur- 
poses sought. A Committee of the Ancient Order of Hibernians 
visited the President and stated their objection to the O'Connor 
Model, but, it seems, the commissioners as well as the Arts Com- 



13 



mission had passed on and had accepted the Model, which was nec- 
essary to complete the contract. They had understood it as I had. 
Mr. Driscol carried the matter to Congress, determined to have 
the contract revoked, which he finally succeeded in doing, and in 
having it awarded to) Mr. Boyle, another Irish sculptor. From 
the columns of the National Hibernian of February 16th, 1910, I 
copy part of the speech of Mr. Driscol which the Hibernian calls 
" masterly speech." 

" Now what kind of a model was approved by the commissioners of 
Fine Arts which was called In to advise the legally constituted commission? 
First it represented a fountain with a pool of water around it with a long 
frieze of bold relief figures, starting in with the history of Ireland, when 
the people were naked or clothed in skins. It undertook to represent 
various events and misfortunes in the history of the Irish people from the 
baptism of the King of Tarn by Saint Patrick down to the present time 
—Brian Boru at the battle of Clontarf , the landing of Strongbow in Ireland ; 
the driving of the native people towards the west, their misfortunes and 
their miseries : and, finally it represented the various Irish immigrants, men 
and women, landing at Castle Garden absolutely nude" (laughter). 

This is about one tenth part of the speech, but enough to describe 
the model of Mr. O'Connor. The model of Mr. Boyle, however, 
was satisfactory to the commission and to the Art Commission, and 
is, beyond question, one of the handsomest statues in the city. 
It is bronze, as is, also, that of Captain Jones, but it is on a high 
pedestal, standing, sword in hand, in the uniform of a Captain 
of that day, graceful, attractive. Unfortunately it is too near the 
pavement and its background is a tree. On the front of the 
granite pedestal is the figure of a woman, beautiful, holding in 
her hand a tre-foil, a fleur de lis, the emblem of the House of the 
Bourbons. The newspapers called the figure Victory, but as 
Victory is always represented with wings, the figure may have been 
intended for the Maid of Erin. The Barry statue was unveiled on 
the 16th day of May, 1916. It is on the west side of Franklin 
Square, facing 14th Street. The Marine Band, a battalion of 
Midshipmen from the Academy, Uniformed seamen, Military Ca- 
dets, Coast Artillerymen, Sons of the American Revolution, Field 
Artillery, Spanish War Veterans, Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick 
and Ancient Order of Hibernians made the procession. President 
Woodrow Wilson made a short address, followed by Secretary of 
the Navy, and an original poem was read by Mr. Reagan. The 



14 




Broxzk Statlk of C ai'Tain John Paul Jones in Potomac Park, 
Washington, D. C. 



invocation was given by Bishop Harding (Episcopal) and the bene- 
diction by Mgr. Russell. In nearly all the addresses Captain Barry 
was referred to as commodore, and, in some, as Father of the 
American Navy, in spite of the fact that line had been cut from 
the text of the Bill which appropriated the money for this very 
monument. 

But the enterprising Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick and the 
A. O. H., after losing their propaganda in Congress, got busy and 
erected a monument in front of the State House in Philadelphia, 
and on it are the words "COMMODORE JOHN BARRY, 
FATHER OF THE AMERICAN NAVY." Though Congress 
had wiped out the words " father of the American Navy" the 
phrase had taken hold of the people and seems to stick. 

Though the history of the Nation shows that Captain John Paul 
Jones not only attacked two regularly built and equipped men-of- 
war, of the enemy, and which were of superior power, and near 
their own ports, capturing them, Mr. Patrick J. Haltigan (a type- 
setter in the Government Printing Office, also editor of the National 
Hibernian), gave to the Knights of Columbus, in Washington, on 
April 7th, 1907, the following, which we take from the Post of 
the 8th: 

"The honor which is due Commodore Barry for his part in the Revolu- 
tionary War has been stolen from him by John Paul Jones, but the American 
public is rapidly seeing its mistake, and before very many more years have 
passed Barry will obtain his just dues. * * * j^ his greatest victory Jones 
succeeded in capturing or sinking only one ship and for this he has received 
praises and honors untold. Barry was the first Commodore who commanded 
the first ship bearing the Continental flag, in more than one Naval engage- 
ment succeeded in capturing two of the enemy ships, a number that was 
never equalled by Jones * * *." 

History, the records of the Navy Department, show that Captain 
Barry captured two ships and lost two while Captain John Paul 
Jones' victories were over regular men-of-war and of superior 
power. 

It may be worthy of note that Mr. Haltigan always respectfully 
referred to Captain Barry as Commodore, but to Captain Jones 
simply as "Jones." In the same lecture the paper quotes Mr. 
Haltigan as touching the active parts taken in the Revolutionary 
times by such men as Charles Carrol of Carrolton and John Carrol, 



15 



first Bishop of America; Charles Thompson, secretary of the 
Continental Congress; George Berkeley; Thomas Dongan; James 
Logan, secretary to William Penn; Commodore John Barry; 
Generals Montgomery, Maxwell, Wayne, Knox, Hand, Sullivan, 
Moylan and others." But he did not intimate that only a few of 
them were eligible to membership in the A. O. H. or the K. of C. 
A number of them were Freemasons, but we cannot pronounce their 
creed. 

In all that has been uttered or written about Captain John Paul 
Jones we can find no word that intimates anything above his 
patriotism ; it was not hyphenated with any other purpose. Patriot- 
ism comes from the Latin word Patria which means father and 
country, race or line of descent, signifying a native or inhabitant. 
No Societies have been active in promoting the memorial of Captain 
John Paul Jones. The Bill to appropriate the money for his 
memorial was induced by the President of the United States, and 
introduced in the Senate by Senator H. Cabot Lodge, both members 
of the Sons of the A^merican Revolution, but without any act or 
connivance of the Society. It is exclusively a patriotic and historic 
Society, and non-sectarian, as any patriotic Society must be. 

The bona fide patriotic societies in the United States are : 

The Order of the Cincinnati, 

The Loyal Legion, 

The Grand Army of the Republic, 

The Sons of the American Revolution, 

The Sons of the Revolution, 

The Daughters of the American Revolution, 

The Founders and Patriots, 

The Sons of the Colonial Wars, 

The Colonial Dames, 

The Legion. 

There are many patriotic individuals in any or in all other 
Societies but unless their fealty is first, last and always to Patria 
they are not bona fide distinctively patriotic. There are grand 
and good organizations, such as Freemasons, Odd Fellows, Red 
Men, Elks, Woodmen, etc., which do fraternal and benevolent 
work, but they are not classed as patriotic. Any international 
organization, with a head in any one country is not in the class of 
patriotic Societies. 



16 



The Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick were organized on the 17th 
day of March, 1771, 24 regular members present, non-sectarian 
(a majority were protestants) and the purpose of the society was 
to assist immigrants. 

The following is from History of the Hibernian Society (Camp- 
bell), p. 149: 

The Hibernian Society for the relief of emigrants from Ireland was 
founded on March 3, 1790. The Pennsylvania Packet or Daily Advertiser of 
the next day said : " At a select meeting of Irishmen, summoned to take 
into consideration the formation of a Society for the protection and relief 
of Irish emigrants." 

It was non-sectarian, and among the officers are the names of 
many protestants. So this Society must not be confused with the 
Ancient Order of Hibernians, which had existed for many years 
in Great Britain, which figured in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and 
which has figured in the history of the Barry Statue. In Mus- 
grave's History of the Irish Rebellion, page 36 (appendix), the 
oath of the members of the Order is recorded, viz : 

" I do solemnly swear by our Lord Jesus Christ who suffered for us on 
the Cross, and by the Blessed Virgin Mary, that I will burn, destroy and 
murder all heretics, up to my knees in blood. So help me God." 

In 1835 before a Government inquiry (see report of Select Com- 
mittee on the State of Ireland, page 288) this organization was 
found to take this oath : 

" I swear that I will never pity the moans or groans of the dying, from 
the cradle to the crutch, and that I will wade knee deep in Orange blood." 

In 1871 the Crown Solicitor of Ireland produced before the " Select 
Committee" the following oath to the members of the same Society : 

* " And I further swear to owe no allegiance to any Protestant or heretic 
sovereign, ruler, prince or potentate and that I will not regard any 
oath delievered to me by them or their subjects, be they Judge, Magistrate 
or else, as binding." 

The first census of the United States was taken a year after the 
inauguration of General Washington, i. e., 1790. The population 

* These obligations were from Parliamentary reports, and recorded in the American 
Citizen of October 28th, 1907. 

17 



had probably not changed any since the close of the war. That cen- 
sus shows only the White people. The Indians and Negroes were 
not included. It shows that 97.7% of them were British of whom 

86.3% were English and 
7.5% Scotch. 
1.0% Dutch. 
0.5% French. 
0.4% German. 
3.9% Irish. 
0.4% All others. 

Most of the French were Huguenot, and probably a majority of the 
Irish were from the Province of Ulster. Of the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence three (Thornton, Smith and Taylor) 
were (Ulster) Irish; three were English; two were Scotch; but 
all the rest were natives. Fifty-three were Protestants, and one a 
Roman Catholic. Nine of them were known to be Freemasons, but 
it is believed there were more. Among them were Lawyers, Mer- 
chants, Physicians, Farmers, Soldiers, one Shoemaker, and a 
Printer. There are three of these great men in unmarked graves 
in a church yard in Philadelphia. 



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